I was reading this very interesting article someplace and it came back to my mind when i was talking to our team about how sales people act. Or 'should' act.
The article said that some people are born 'good sales guys' and businesses should identify such talent and not waste time bothering with trying to make a mediocre a success. In other words - unless the horse has the heart for racing - don't bring him onto the track.
Even though i agree with this philosophy to a great extent, i believe that not everyone in a team is required to be a race horse. In other words - a great racing team is not made up of racing horses alone. But then again - the winning teams have the best race horses. Some people are not cut out to be sales guys - but that doesn't necessarily mean they cannot be part of a sales team.
I define sales guys of 2 types - Hawks and Cheetas. I use these terms because these animals are excellent hunters and have an aggressive nature of killing and sales guys tend to have that aggression - it comes naturally to them.
Hawks are the kinds who can see far - have patience and strike only when there is a good chance to make a kill. Hawks will soar in the sky for weeks without coming down but when they do - their kill percentage is relatively high.
Cheetas are fast, extremely fast. They don't have the far seeing vision, but their speed of approach makes up for it. They are very sensitive to small directional changes in the target's run and they can make quick adjustments to their run. But cheetas have a poor success ratio and they tend to get tired fast.
One BIG difference between these 2 is that the prey doesn't always know that a hawk is coming down to kill it. The cheeta's prey knows it needs to outrun the cheeta to survive.
In the long run - both of them are good at what they do - kill to survive and evolution has taught them to excel at what they can do best - rather than try to imitate the other's prowess. Good sales guys know their weaknesses as well as their strengths. The even better ones use their weaknesses in their favor and evolve into better killers.
The article said that some people are born 'good sales guys' and businesses should identify such talent and not waste time bothering with trying to make a mediocre a success. In other words - unless the horse has the heart for racing - don't bring him onto the track.
Even though i agree with this philosophy to a great extent, i believe that not everyone in a team is required to be a race horse. In other words - a great racing team is not made up of racing horses alone. But then again - the winning teams have the best race horses. Some people are not cut out to be sales guys - but that doesn't necessarily mean they cannot be part of a sales team.
I define sales guys of 2 types - Hawks and Cheetas. I use these terms because these animals are excellent hunters and have an aggressive nature of killing and sales guys tend to have that aggression - it comes naturally to them.
Hawks are the kinds who can see far - have patience and strike only when there is a good chance to make a kill. Hawks will soar in the sky for weeks without coming down but when they do - their kill percentage is relatively high.
Cheetas are fast, extremely fast. They don't have the far seeing vision, but their speed of approach makes up for it. They are very sensitive to small directional changes in the target's run and they can make quick adjustments to their run. But cheetas have a poor success ratio and they tend to get tired fast.
One BIG difference between these 2 is that the prey doesn't always know that a hawk is coming down to kill it. The cheeta's prey knows it needs to outrun the cheeta to survive.
In the long run - both of them are good at what they do - kill to survive and evolution has taught them to excel at what they can do best - rather than try to imitate the other's prowess. Good sales guys know their weaknesses as well as their strengths. The even better ones use their weaknesses in their favor and evolve into better killers.
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